Credo

Homefire is dedicated to producing delicious Zinfandel. Zin defies classification, like those who drink it. It finds truth in its individuality. Our purpose is to keep it true and focused to its origins. We've been doing it since 2002.

Vineyards

Hales Vineyard – The old vines were planted in 1952. Half the vineyard is trellised, the other half; head pruned. Wilfred Wong calls the wine produced from these old vines a classic Dry Creek Zin.

Traumerei Vineyard – We were happy to discover Will Spencer’s vineyard just before the 2010 harvest. After tasting the barrel samples in the Spring of 2011, we found an incredibly balanced complex wine.

Mounts Vineyard – This vineyard lies on a western hillside next to A Rafanelli. It was once purchased entirely by Gallo to make “Hearty Burgundy” in the 1960s. It's been replanted into a patchwork of great zinfandel vines. The ’07 Homecoming and the soon to be released ’09 “Muse” were conceived under a starry night here.

Winemaker

Michael Sterling was born into the dairy industry. So what drove him to wine? Was it his adventures in the vineyards of Saint-Émilion, Bordeaux and the Rhône? Could it be his love of the vine or an unknown obesssion for crisis management?

After all, he studied Journalism and won an Emmy Award for television producing. It all seemed to come together in 2000 when Mike returned to the vine and began studying Enology at UC Davis..

Two years later, Mike created Homefire and began making Zins. In 2005, Hales Vineyard “Old Vine” scored “Double Gold” at the California Zinfandel Championships. The ‘07 "Hales" was one of 30 wines out of 3,000 to win “4-Star Gold” at Orange Co.

Probably no connection but we recently learned that Mike has ancestors who were wine growers in the 1600's in Alsace.